


Photographs

by freezyrat



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-27 04:24:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18296777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freezyrat/pseuds/freezyrat
Summary: Koizumi comes with Saionji to her dance lesson after school. She only expects to take a few pictures before she goes home, but something else gets in the way.





	Photographs

Photographs. Hundreds upon hundreds of photographs. Each image held a special meaning, a memory engraved in its likeness. Some brought back overwhelming sadness, while others had the power to grow a joy within someone that they didn’t know they had before. Photographs like those could change the world. But these, these pictures were different.

Photos of a smile, a second of delight recorded forever. A flash of movement, a blur on the screen of the camera. Laughter, frozen in time. A look of true compassion. Friendship. _Her_ friendship. Koizumi’s thumb hovered over the buttons on her camera as she stared down at the screen. These photos could never mean the same thing to others as they did to her. These feelings they cultivated, the emotions that danced about in her mind as the memories flooded back to her. Some photos could change the world, but these could only ever mean the world to her.

“Hey, big sis, what’re you looking at?”

Click. With a quick movement of her thumb, Koizumi hit the off button on her camera. The screen went dark in an instant, the photograph gone. Saionji leaned over her friend’s desk, looking at the screen curiously.

“I was just checking the battery,” Koizumi replied quickly. This wasn’t the first time she had lied. She didn’t even think about it anymore. Saionji made a sort of pouting face, sticking her tongue out in a playful way. Cute. Koizumi laughed.

“You’re still walking me home for my dance class, right? You promised, didn’t you?” Saionji poked Koizumi’s cheek with her finger. “Don’t tell me you forgot!” Koizumi reached her own hand up, slipping her fingers between Saionji’s. Her friend locked onto her without a second’s hesitation.

“Of course I am, Saionji! I would never forget,” Koizumi replied, a smile creeping across her face when she saw her friend’s expression light up. Saionji almost threw herself onto the desk, wrapping the photographer in a tight hug. Koizumi eagerly returned it, being careful not to knock her camera against anything. Her eyes closed, senses completely focused on the feeling of Hiyoko’s cheek pressed against her neck, her hands tightly gripping the back of her uniform shirt. Hiyoko pulled her face back to look Koizumi in the eyes, smiling.

“I’m going to get my things, I’ll wait for you outside, okay?” she chimed. Mahiru nodded.

“Of course, I’ll see you there.”

“Yaaaaay!” Saionji ducked in close to kiss her friend on the cheek, pulling back quickly and giggling. “Don’t be late!” Koizumi could feel herself blushing, but placed a hand over her cheek in an attempt to hide it. She could only smile as Saionji skipped away, giving a cute wave as she disappeared into the hallway. The photographer sighed, her entire body finally relaxing.

“Woah-ho! Ibuki didn’t know you two were a thing!” Koizumi yelled in surprise, feet kicking into the floor and sending her chair backwards into the desk behind her. Leaning overhead was a very smug looking Ibuki Mioda, hands planted firmly on the desktop as she hovered over Koizumi’s face.

“W-we’re not!” Mahiru grabbed Ibuki’s face and pushed her out of the way so she could sit up, Ibuki laughing the whole time.

“What do you mean you’re not?” she replied. She swung her feet over the desk to sit on top of it, looking down on her classmate. “Ibuki saw her kiss you!” Koizumi’s face grew redder.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” she said, trying her hardest to recover some semblance of composure. “Girls are much closer to each other than guys, you know. It’s totally normal. You can’t tell me you haven’t kissed one of your friends before!”

“Ibuki hasn’t.” Stone cold. “Ibuki knows a lotta people who kiss each other, and none of them are ‘just friends.’ Just admit it!” She was sneering now, finger poking Koizumi’s cheek. She pushed the musician’s finger away with her hand, trying to stay calm as she stood up.

“I’m telling the truth, Ibuki! Saionji does this all the time, it doesn’t mean anything.” This was true. In more recent weeks Saionji had taken to giving Koizumi very quick kisses when no one was looking. Granted it had been an abrupt change in behavior, but Saionji seemed to treat it like a game, so she thought nothing of it. Ibuki seemed to be having none of this.

“Oohhhhkaaaaaaay, if you say so!” Her tone didn’t support her words, but Koizumi was done with trying to argue with her. Saionji was waiting for her, she had to get going. She quickly packed up her camera and tossed her notebooks into her bag. She wasn’t worrying about keeping it tidy, all she wanted to do right now was leave. As she began to hurry off, Ibuki called out: “Oh, Koizumi!” Mahiru glanced back at her friend one last time. Ibuki was sitting wide stance on the desktop. She had stuck her tongue out, and she brought up a hand in the shape of- Koizumi turned back around very quickly, rushing out of the room. She could still hear Ibuki howling with laughter after the door was shut.

The halls of Hope’s Peak Academy were still fairly busy. The final classes of the day had been let out, but most students hung back for after school meetings and clubs. Koizumi had never really felt comfortable in joining any extracurricular groups. Photography was all she really knew, and besides, more time at school meant less time with Saionji. Saionji still attended rigorous training sessions with her grandmother every single day. Mahiru supposed it made sense, with her coming from a long line of traditional dancers, but the amount of work Saionji was put through still rubbed her the wrong way. She had never met Hiyoko’s grandmother, but the way her friend complained about her was enough to make her wary.

Koizumi was relieved to finally make her way into the schoolyard. Before she even had a chance to look, Saionji sprung on her.

“Big sis! You took sooooo looooong!” she whined, making a childish face. Mahiru laughed, pulling Hiyoko into a one armed hug.

“Did not! You’re just too impatient!” she joked, invoking a giggle from the other girl.

“You big meanie!” Saionji stuck out her tongue, but couldn’t hold her fake tantrum together any longer and burst out laughing. Koizumi laughed even harder, and the two of them went on their way. For a moment, it almost seemed like a regular high school. Groups of friends talking and laughing, after school clubs meeting up on benches and in the athletics fields. Just for a little while, Koizumi could feel the comfort of her old life as an average student, free of the pressures and expectations of her talent. Just a regular girl walking home with her friend. That was all she wanted.

It wasn’t long before Saionji began to reach over to help herself to the contents of Koizumi’s bag. She laughed to herself as Saionji tried to unzip the pack while walking, hand fumbling around blindly as she tried to keep her eyes on the sidewalk. Eventually Koizumi unzipped the bag herself. It hadn’t taken long for her to learn Saionji’s likes and dislikes, and something she always seemed to have on hand nowadays was sweets. She quickly produced a bag of flower shaped hard candies, much to Saionji’s excitement.

Their conversation drifted aimlessly between topics as they walked. Saionji had no trouble at all talking as she ate. Though talking with a full mouth was rude, Koizumi thought it was… cute. In some weird kind of way, she felt like Saionji didn’t want to stop talking with her for even one moment, even if she was eating. Of course, there was one other secret reason she loved giving her friend sweets. Every time Saionji would pull a yellow candy from the bag she would quite forcefully give it to Koizumi. Saionji’s hatred of sour foods was somehow just as cute as the way she wouldn’t stop talking. Even if the candy wasn’t actually sour, she didn’t want to take any chances, pawning off her least favorite colors without even trying them to see if they were bad. Koizumi didn’t know why such small, insignificant things hung in her mind. If it were some boy, she would probably be a little more than annoyed, but because it was Saionji…

The shorter girl took the lead, Koizumi remaining close by her side on the way to her home. They passed through a very different part of town than Mahiru was used to, a sort of upper class area with all sorts of expensive shops and attractions. The streets were busy, and she pushed close against Saionji to keep from getting separated. Somewhere in the crowd their hands met, and their fingers intertwined. Eventually the two of them made it through the crowds, but Saionji made no effort to pull away. Mahiru couldn’t say that she minded.

Their surroundings changed quite drastically as they entered the residential districts. Saionji’s entire neighborhood was on a steep hill. Unsurprisingly, the Saionji Clan lived in a very old community. Most of the housing here was wooden, complete with the traditional tile roofing and sliding doors. It made for a beautiful sight, but Koizumi couldn’t help but feel a bit of discomfort every time she was here. Her family wasn’t especially well off. Even though her mother was a famous wartime photographer, they didn’t have much in the way of commodities. She could never imagine living this way. Saionji, on the other hand, seemed to perk up once they were on familiar ground. She practically skipped up the sidewalk, only now letting go of Mahiru’s hand to get a head start up the hill. Her house was quite a bit further up, and Koizumi knew she had another long walk ahead of her.

The path twisted up the hillside as they went, granting them a view of the city between the trees. The sight was undeniably beautiful. Koizumi had taken pictures from here before after walking Saionji home. It seemed as though each time she came back she found something new to appreciate. Finally, Saionji’s house came into view. It was tucked into the hill, surrounded by deep green trees and sculpted foliage. The house wasn’t extraordinarily large- it belonged to her grandmother after all- but it was still bigger than most other houses down in the city. They stopped outside at the familiar stone wall surrounding the property.

“Well, guess this is my stop,” Koizumi said. Saionji’s more aloof attitude dropped, and she seemed to be… nervous?

“Um, big sis, I was wondering,” she started, putting on a very pleading look, “if you would want to come inside this time?” Koizumi immediately felt her heart pounding faster.

“You have dance lessons though, don’t you?” she replied slowly. “Wouldn’t your grandmother be upset if I stayed?”

“Nuh-uh!” There was that attitude again. Hiyoko very forcefully grabbed her friend’s hands, starting to drag her through the gate. “She’s a cranky old hag, but if you just say you’re taking pictures for me she won’t mind!”

“You want me to take pictures of you dancing?!”

“I just said that, silly! Come on!” Koizumi was whisked away from the street and was all of a sudden following Saionji through her front garden towards the house. Saionji had her hand clasped tightly in her own, so it wasn’t like she had much of a choice. Hiyoko led her up to the wooden veranda that surrounded the house, letting go to step up and then extending a hand to help Koizumi do the same. She smiled and took her friend’s hand, allowing her to pull her up onto the deck. Koizumi’s heart was beating faster and faster. She had never actually gone inside Saionji’s house before. It was a scary concept, but thrilling all the same. She didn’t know what scared her so much about this, but tried not to think on it.

The front door was slid open to allow the warm spring breeze into the house. Saionji stepped into the entrance, a sunken in little space in the floor with a shoe rack beside the door. She easily stepped out of her sandals, placing them on the shoe rack as Koizumi fumbled to kick off her uniform shoes without sitting down. Saionji seemed to enjoy watching this. Only after she finally managed to tuck her shoes away on the rack could Koizumi take the time to look around. The inside of the house was just as impressive as the outside. All of the floors and sliding door walls were a beautiful lacquered wood, the furniture appearing the same. Tatami mats were spread across the floor, evening light from the windows dancing across them in the soft patterns of the leaves outside. Saionji stepped into the house without any hesitation, giggling when she noticed her friend hesitated instead of doing the same.

“Come on! You can take a picture later!” Koizumi smiled and shook her head, finally stepping up into the house and following. The two of them shuffled off to the center of the house, which had a gorgeous cutaway space where the building left a square of natural land surrounded by another veranda. In the center was a small pond with a few expensive looking fish, accented by very tidy and neat landscaping and stone. On the other side of the veranda was an older woman holding a cane, staring intently at the water. She looked up upon their arrival, brow furrowing when she caught sight of Koizumi. She could only smile awkwardly as Saionji made her way around the pond, saying something to the woman that Koizumi couldn’t quite hear. She stayed put, fumbling awkwardly with the strap of her bag as the two talked. Eventually Saionji started waving, beckoning for Koizumi to come over. She complied, albeit a bit nervously.

“Grandma, this is Mahiru Koizumi,” Saionji said, gesturing as her friend came near. “She is a very talented photographer, it would be an honor for her to take some pictures for me during our training today.” Mahiru smiled, giving an incredibly deep bow. A bit too formal for the occasion, but she was anxious.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, eyes glued to her feet. Grandmother only grunted, which was enough of a response for Koizumi to straighten herself out again. She maintained as professional of an attitude as she could until Grandmother’s attention was off of her, when she could finally relax a bit. Why was she treating this so seriously? Saionji looked back as Grandmother started to walk away, giving an encouraging smile. This was enough to comfort Koizumi for the time being as she followed them towards the studio.

Koizumi didn’t know what to expect from the studio, but the room she entered wasn’t it. The back wall panels were slid away to access the veranda, as well as give a view of the woodland behind the house. There were cushions and benches around the sides of the room, and in the center was a sunken in square of lacquered wood. The surface was obviously worn down from years and years of use, but was still incredibly beautiful. Saionji and her grandmother immediately headed for the floor, while Mahiru found a spot near the wall to set down her things.

She dropped to her knees on one of the cushions, rifling through her bag to retrieve her camera and a small lens case. She set the equipment aside, nervously fidgeting with a few meaningless items in the bag to give her more time. She had seen Saionji dance before. This wasn’t any different. She would take a few pictures to make Grandmother happy, and then wait for the lesson to be over. With this thought in mind, Koizumi gathered her equipment and hurried over to Saionji.

Her friend was speaking with Grandmother in a very formal, disciplined way. She didn’t seem scared, but rather respectful. ‘No wonder she’s so childish in class…’ Koizumi thought as she began attaching one of her lenses to the camera. ‘She never got the chance to act like one when she was younger.’ The Saionji she saw now was completely different than the one she knew. Formal, polite, calm… almost as if she wasn’t even the same person.

Grandmother moved to a corner of the floor, lowering herself onto a cushion beside a small instrument. Koizumi wasn’t very musically inclined, but from Saionji’s background she knew it was a traditional instrument called a shamisen. They were often used in traditional dance routines, so it wasn’t really a surprise that she practiced with one. Grandmother crossed her legs, placing the body of the instrument in her lap and retrieving a large, flat pick from the floor. She tuned the instrument for a few moments as Saionji adjusted her kimono. Saionji looked up at Mahiru with a smile, giving a shy wave to catch her attention. Koizumi just waved back awkwardly, stooped on the tatami mat with her camera balanced on her knee. Their interaction was cut short when the music began.

Koizumi never claimed to understand traditional music and dance. The history behind both was far too deep and intricate for her to ever hope to know. However, when the music began to play, note by note, she was suddenly enraptured. Saionji moved slowly, deliberately. Each step was calculated, every movement concise and smooth. For a moment she completely forgot she was supposed to be taking pictures, just staring. Her trance was broken when Grandmother stopped playing, muttering something to Saionji, who stopped dead and moved over to listen. Koizumi realized the way she had been staring, and her focus shifted to idly tinkering with her camera, trying to hide her embarrassment.

It wasn’t her fault though, was it? Saionji was the Ultimate Traditional Dancer after all. It wasn’t like she was the only one to feel this way. Grandmother handed Saionji a fan, signaling for her to go back to her place. She complied without a word, taking up the same position as before as her grandmother started to play. This time, Koizumi was very deliberate about remembering the photographs. She raised her camera, hand already clutching the focus. The slow pacing of the dance made it easy to capture exactly what she wanted.

The light coming in from the woodland behind the house, mixed with its soft reflections on the wooden walls… Saionji almost seemed to glow in the frame. Koizumi was moving around trying to find the best angles, albeit a bit awkwardly, since she didn’t really want to look away. She finally settled on a corner and started working.

The look of concentration on Saionji’s face, eyes closed as she raised the fan. Click. The folds of her kimono in the evening light. Click. Her eyes, half open, looking off into the woods. Click. Her mouth, gently parted to breathe deeply during a downbeat. Click. Koizumi zoomed out, scooting backwards to try getting a wider shot. She stumbled on a cushion behind her, landing with a dull thud on the tatami. Through the lens she saw Saionji look over, mid pose, her fan open and raised close to her face. She smiled, laughing. Koizumi felt herself blushing. Click.

The music stopped, followed by a scolding for breaking routine. Koizumi hid her face behind her camera, partly from embarrassment and partly to hide her reddening face. Whenever Saionji looked at her like that… After a bit of arguing from her hosts, the lesson continued. Mahiru took more pictures here and there, but still couldn’t take her mind off of Saionji’s smile. When the lesson was over she thanked Grandmother again for her hospitality, but received nothing but a nod in return. Good enough.

Saionji accompanied her grandmother out of the room, pointing at Koizumi to have her stay put. After a few minutes she came racing back in with her usual energy.

“All done!” she cheered, throwing herself onto Mahiru. “Fiiiiinally! That old hag was really annoying me.” She cuddled up on her friend’s lap, arms tight around Koizumi’s neck. Saionji leaned in for another kiss, making Koizumi’s heart skip a beat. “Show me the pictures I wanna seeeeee!”

“Okay, okay!” Koizumi was laughing, hands fumbling as she tried to grab her camera. “Hold on.”  
She slid her hand around behind Saionji, pulling her arm around her friend’s waist to hold the camera better. Saionji leaned into her, their faces touching. Koizumi’s fingers trembled. Somehow she managed to open the menu, pulling up the photos from the dance session. Saionji was incredibly interested, pointing out things about herself in the photos as they scrolled. Koizumi moved through them fairly quickly until the photo of Saionji smiling popped up on screen. Her finger froze, hovering over the scroll button.

“This is my favorite one of all,” Koizumi admitted.

“The one where I messed up?” Saionji said in a mocking tone. She had a smirk on her face.

“No! It’s perfect. Your smile is my favorite thing.” Koizumi sputtered. “I mean. Photos of smiling people are my favorite, so of course I like this one the most…” Saionji seemed to hug even tighter.

“Oh, that’s your excuse?” she teased. “Every picture of somebody smiling is your favorite. You just like it better cause all the other pictures of me are so serious!” Mahiru laughed, resting her head against Saionji’s.

“No look, I have other pictures of you too, not just those,” she said, backing out to the menu and quickly beginning to scroll through her gallery. Saionji leaned in close as Koizumi flipped back to some of the pictures she had taken. Some were photos Hiyoko had posed for and demanded she take; a few awkward poses in front of a sunset, photos of her pointing at weird bugs, blurred photos immediately after of her reaching to smash said bugs as Koizumi rushed to stop her, all things to be expected from a high schooler’s camera roll. Saionji giggled at a couple of them, commenting on the circumstances and reminiscing on the memory.

As she bounced back and forth between these candid shots, Koizumi passed by a few pictures she had taken earlier that week. She immediately panicked, hitting the menu button quickly, but the damage had been done.

“Wait! That was a picture of me, too!” Saionji said, tugging on her friend’s sleeve. “Go back go back!”

“No that one- you told me to delete that one, it was a bad one remember?” She quickly began to stammer out unrelated excuses, which only made Hiyoko more curious. She began to reach for the camera, and Koizumi very quickly lifted it up out of her reach. “Hey!” she protested, growing even more flustered than before. “I said-”

Saionji jumped up unexpectedly, snatching the camera and beginning to run away. Koizumi shouted, throwing herself to the ground with her arms outstretched in an attempt to catch her, but it was too late. Saionji was giggling as she taunted her friend, holding the camera up for her friend to see.

“I’m gunna look~!” she said, sticking out her tongue.

“Saionji!!” Koizumi was scrambling to stand up, her socks slipping on the tatami. She finally got to her knees, sitting up to see Hiyoko staring intently at the camera screen with a grin on her face. Before she could even stand she watched Saionji’s smile slowly morph into a look of… surprise? Her mouth was open slightly, eyes wide as she looked down at the photos.

“What… what are these?” she asked, finally looking up. “I don’t remember any of this.” She turned the camera to display the screen. There was a photo of Saionji sleeping in class, head on the desk, mouth open in a snore. Ibuki was in the background behind her trying not to laugh. Koizumi let out a defeated sigh. She hung her head, staring hard at the floor. Saionji walked up to her quietly, slowly kneeling down in front of her. “Big sis,” she murmured, “why did you take these?”

Koizumi looked up to see Saionji almost in tears. “Are you… did you take these to make fun of me?” Her voice was cracking and choked.

“No!” She responded quickly, panicked. “Of course not! Saionji, you’re my best friend, why would I do that?” Hiyoko sniffled, looking back to the camera as she began to scroll.

“Just look at these!” she protested. “I don’t look good in any of them!” She passed through several photos, all of which were photos Koizumi had secretly taken. In one Saionji was outside, poking at a grasshopper with a stick. Another had her leering over Mikan, who was embarrassed and picking up her papers from the floor. Saionji, laughing at a joke Komaeda hadn’t told. Saionji, drawing crude images on an assignment she disliked. Saionji, Saionji, Saionji. “Why else would you take these stupid pictures?” Koizumi had enough. In her panic, she made the unconscious decision to tell the truth.

“It’s because I like taking pictures of you!” she sputtered. “Every single one of those pictures is very precious to me! You don’t know how happy they make me feel- every picture of you is perfect to me.” She proceeded to take the camera from Saionji’s hands, pointing at the current photo of her making a disgusted face.

“This was when Teruteru made those rice balls with sour pickle inside. You wouldn’t let him live it down for weeks!” She skipped to another one of Saionji with her face scrunched up as Ibuki seemed to be yelling something behind her. “And this, Ibuki had gotten into an argument with Chisa-” Koizumi had started to tremble, suddenly aware of the tears spilling out over her cheeks. Saionji thought she hated her, and it was the most heart shattering feeling in the world. Worse than anything she had ever felt, worse than even death. She was desperate to prove Hiyoko wrong.

Saionji put her hands over the camera screen, prompting Mahiru to stop. She finally looked up at her friend. Saionji was crying, but didn’t seem to be distressed in the same way as before. She looked at Koizumi with a look of genuine emotion.

“You don’t have to explain yourself big sis,” she said quietly. “I… I think I understand.” Koizumi sniffed, taking a deep breath.

“Y-you do?” Saionji nodded.

“I know you’ve been hiding these from me,” she admitted, glancing down as she wiped a few tears from her face. “I always see you looking at something and you won’t let me see it, so I thought it was something bad… but you always looked so happy staring at your camera. I thought maybe it was some boy you liked-”

“WHAT?!” Mahiru couldn’t help but interrupt. “Do I LOOK straight to you?”

“I DON’T KNOW!!” Saionji giggled through her tears as Koizumi did the same. The tension seemed to have lifted between them. “I couldn’t think of anybody it could be so I just imagined some super secret boy you wouldn’t tell me about.” Mahiru scooted up to her friend, putting her arm over her shoulder. Saionji immediately threw herself onto her, wrapping her in a tight embrace. Koizumi very gently began brushing the tears from Hiyoko’s face.

“I’d never keep anything from you,” she said softly, resting her hand on Saionji’s cheek. The shorter girl had her eyes closed and leaned into the touch, hugging even tighter. “You’re my best friend in the whole world, Saionji. I mean that.” Hiyoko’s eyes opened softly.

“Then… can I ask you something?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “And you have to promise to tell me the truth.” Koizumi felt her heart jump to her throat. Her mouth opened to reply, but all that came out was a quiet sputter. She mouthed a few words before she finally managed a slight “yes.” Saionji seemed to fidget, hands gripping Koizumi’s clothes even tighter than before. She looked off into the distance for a moment before meeting her friend’s eyes.

“Big sis, do you… do you like me?”

Koizumi’s mouth was open. It was a question she had been trying to avoid asking herself, to be honest. However, when it came from Saionji herself, she couldn’t ignore it any longer. She tried to speak but only shook, her entire body weak. She felt completely helpless, unable to do a thing. Her hands were visibly trembling, and Saionji could tell. She very gently took Koizumi’s hands in her own, sitting up slowly so they were face to face. She was blushing very deeply, but smiled.

“Cause, I like you a lot. Like, a lot lot.” Her smile grew as Koizumi felt herself grow even hotter. She was paralyzed, completely in Saionji’s control. “I don’t want to just be your friend. So I’m asking... “ She hesitated, fidgeting a bit with Mahiru’s hands. “Do you want to be my- my girlfriend?” All at once, Koizumi’s energy returned to her. Her entire body was filled with more excitement and emotion than she could contain. Without thinking she leaned in quickly, kissing Saionji on the lips.

God, how she had wanted to kiss her! Saionji seemed to be caught off guard, toppling backwards to the floor. Mahiru’s hands hit the ground as she leaned over Hiyoko, who lay on her back in bewilderment. They stared at each other in stunned silence for a moment before Koizumi felt herself begin to laugh, her arms trembling under the weight of her emotions. Saionji burst out smiling wider than Koizumi had ever seen. She threw her arms around Koizumi’s neck, pulling her down on top of her to kiss her back. Mahiru closed her eyes, hands finding their way to Saionji’s face. The two of them stayed this way for a while, completely entangled on the floor of the studio, shadows cast across the tatami in the early evening light. There weren’t any words to share- they already knew how they felt.

A thousand moments, each more incredible than the last. A second of delight, replayed over and over and over. These moments would never mean the same thing to anyone other than them. True compassion. Not friendship, but love. Pure, unadulterated, absolute love.

By the time they could bear to pull themselves away from each other, Koizumi was breathing heavily and was weak with emotion. She lay with her head on Saionji’s chest, staring at her with an unbreaking gaze. Their fingers were tangled together, one of Hiyoko’s hands playing with Koizumi’s hair.

“So… was that a yes?” Koizumi looked up.

“Huh?”

“You never answered me. Do you wanna be my girlfriend?” Saionji had that shit-eating grin on her face that Koizumi couldn’t help but laugh at. She pulled herself off of her friend, laying next to her on the floor, their faces close.

“Of course I do, you dummy,” she laughed, giving Saionji a kiss on the nose. Saionji giggled, leaning forward to touch their foreheads together.

“Good, ‘cause I wouldn’t take no for an answer.” The two of them laughed again, embracing. On the floor, a few feet from the girls, sat Koizumi’s camera. The screen was still dimly lit, displaying a photo of Koizumi and Saionji together, laughing.

Some photos could change the world, but these could ever mean the world to her.

 

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**Author's Note:**

> I don't write a lot of fanfiction and this idea has been bouncing around in my mind for three or four years now, hope y'all enjoy this sappy garbage from a lovesick dumbass lesbian (me).  
> Also the little doodles at the end are also mine! Since the idea has been with me so long I can very clearly visualize every aspect of this story... again, hope you enjoy it!!


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